Short Story Wednesday: Reader, I Buried Them and other stories by Peter Lovesey

 

I was interested in this book from the first time I heard of it, and then I saw it featured at Rick Robinson's blog, Tip the Wink. Rick kindly offered to send me his copy and now I have read ten stories in the book. Only eight stories left to read.

This is such a great cover: the cat, the books stacked up, the skull on the window ledge, the old-fashioned lamp and the teacup on the desk. 

These are the stories I have read:

“And the Band Played On” 

This story particularly resonated with me. The Strawberry Blonde with James Cagney, Rita Hayworth, and Olivia de Havilland is a favorite film in our household; the song "The Band Played On" is featured in that film. The lyrics begin with "Casey would waltz with a strawberry blonde and the band played on." In this story, the narrator's grandfather has moved in with his family and constantly sings this song. We learn that the grandfather was in prison for murder, which initially gives the narrator nightmares. The story is told effectively and has a very nice ending.

“Sweet and Low” 

In this story, all the bee hives have been stolen from a farm. The background information about bees and bee hives was as interesting to me as the solving of the mystery. 

“Lady Luck” 

A burglar wins a vacation to Marrakesh. He thinks he is very lucky but it turns out to be the opposite for him.

“Reader, I Buried Them” 

I liked this story the best (so far), maybe because I always like a story set in a monastery. I like to read about the way the monasteries are run and how the members of  the community relate to each other. When the Father Superior plans to relocate the group to a new, smaller location, Brother Jeffrey (who is the narrator of this  story) is very upset to leave his beautiful wild flower garden that he maintains. Shortly after that the Father Superior dies of stomach problems. Is it food poisoning or a virus? As with most of these stories, there is an unexpected twist ending. I liked the way it was handled.

“Angela’s Alterations” 

This is a very clever story about a newly married couple having problems with the husband's teenage son and the woman who helps them solve this problem. Or so it seems. This one is a bit different; the resolution is more complicated and interesting. More of the story is hidden from the reader, and the ending is sort of open, so the reader has to decide exactly what happened.

“The Bitter Truth”

A darker story about a man writing an obituary for a well-known toxicologist. Very good.

"Ghosted"

A clever story. A moderately successful novelist is hired to ghostwrite a story for a young female celebrity with a very rich husband. The ending took me by surprise.

"The Homicidal Hat"

This story was about a hat contest at the Malice Domestic conference. Cuthbert Murphy plans a very creative and complex hat for his wife Adelina. Another clever story with a twist. And lots of mystery titles and authors were mentioned.

"Oracle of the Dead"

Set on the Greek island of Corfu. A couple encounter problems on their honeymoon. I liked this story the least, so far.

"Formidophobia"

Formidophobia: the fear of scarecrows. Tells the story of a man who has had a fear of scarecrows since he was eight years old. He thinks he knows what happened to cause his fear, but only later in life does he learn the full truth. 

Peter Lovesey has written a very good Foreward for this book. One of the stories included is Lovesey's first published short story, "The Bathtub" (1973), which was noticed by Ruth Rendell at that time. Three of the stories were first published in this book (2022).  The rest of the stories are mostly from 2008 - 2017, published in mystery magazines or anthologies. There is also a checklist of Lovesey's novels, anthologies, and short stories.